


What the heck is on Sigma's ankles?

by Garlicbreadbowl



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: because i think its something worth discussing, because tumblr SUCKS, but im determined to start some discussion on this, pictures are included, this is a post from tumblr that, this is essay on sigma's character design, this is not a fanfic, wouldnt show up in tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 06:06:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20130577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garlicbreadbowl/pseuds/Garlicbreadbowl
Summary: I posted this on tumblr and, after 2 hours, it wouldn't show up in the tags. after another hour doing literally everything possible to make it visible, it still wouldn't show up.So now I'm posting it here instead.Basically, this is discussing the weird rings around Sigma's ankles.ps: tumblr sucks.





	What the heck is on Sigma's ankles?

I swear on Jesus it’s an Oregon Boot. No sugar-coating, just let me explain.

You remember that post floating around tumblr about those ankle weights for babies? Well, tumblr user itsmalachitenow posted a[ reference study of Sigma](https://itsmalachitenow.tumblr.com/post/186642813329/my-best-friend-and-i-were-talking-sigma-anatomy), and look at his ankles. His actual ankle is considerably smaller than what it looks like, thanks to these strange rings around them. 

They look so ridiculous that it reminded me of those toddler ankle weights, but I wondered, “Wait, don’t they use those in prisons?” And so the google search was on. 

Long story short, yeah. They do, and they’re called [Oregon Boots](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Foffbeatoregon.com%2F1403b.oregon-boot-cruel-unusual-punishment.html&t=Yzc4ZTA3MDQ1ZGI5YzVkNDc3YmI3NmM5YjI0NGJmMGMyMTU0MWI3ZixZYlZ0WHZacQ%3D%3D&b=t%3A7LE9UBWogmJbZCc9OBkMpQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fgarlicbreadbowl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F186802020113%2Fwhat-the-heck-is-on-sigmas-ankles&m=1), or [Gardner Shackles. ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmentalfloss.com%2Farticle%2F59743%2Fstrange-states-oregon-boot&t=M2E4YzMyMWRlNDA2OTRjYmE5ZDVlMzlkZWEyZWZiZDVmNjgzZmU0YixZYlZ0WHZacQ%3D%3D&b=t%3A7LE9UBWogmJbZCc9OBkMpQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fgarlicbreadbowl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F186802020113%2Fwhat-the-heck-is-on-sigmas-ankles&m=1)

These things look weird, but they’re incredibly abusive. 

It can be “28 pounds of solid lead.” Sometimes, it was **50 pounds**. It’s a heavy ring of metal that you make prisoners wear that slows them down so you can’t escape. The rings could rub against the skin, drawing blood and causing infections. Wearing them can cause permanent injuries to the hips, legs, and ankles - which can **damage the ability to walk. **

_Sigma floats._

You have this man who can control gravity, but not really, and sometimes he floats up in the air? Whoever was imprisoning him (an asylum, the Dutch government, w/e) would have tried to weigh him down - 50 lbs of metal would have helped. 

Let’s take a look at those anklets.

  


First: the color. In his Talon skin and classic, they’re black in color. They’re either painted or they’re naturally black. A naturally black metal is Elysium - which is _pretty heavy._ It’s made of diamond, scratch-resistant, and harder than tungsten. Tungsten is about 2 to 3 times _harder than titanium_ and is one of the heaviest metals. If they aren’t painted, I’m betting they’re made of Elysium. 

They’re just above his ankles. They don’t appear to be connected to anything, like the rest of his armor. They look more like something you _clamp shut_, like a buckle. Aside from the little blue light, they don’t look technological at all. The light is just there to match with the rest of him. 

It’s not armor - armor for the ankles does _not _look like that. The ankle isn’t generally what people aim for - there isn’t a point for _that much_ armor around an ankle. Also, look how out of place they are compared to the rest of his armor. Nowhere else do rings or bands show up, except maybe for the armor on his hips. It’s very clearly not part of the armor - you can see where the black fabric/spandex turns into the white cloth-things on his feet. The rings sit _over _the fabric. 

But the kicker?

Those rings are on all of his skins - even his legendaries. More notably - **_his asylum skins. _**

The asylum skins’ rings look like they serve some sciency purpose - probably something to do with regulating gravity?

This is all speculation. But, seriously, what the heck are they?? There’s a few scenarios:

These are Oregon Boots and Blizzard intended this. When asked about why Sigma is barefoot, the guy who designed him <strike>_(rather ignorantly)_</strike> said it was because of mental illness. Basically, he’s barefoot because they wanted to capture that ‘asylum vibe’. Asylums _don’t allow that, _you wear socks. W/e. Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they did this intentionally, to really hammer in the whole “See, he’s a prisoner who’s being mistreated!” thing that they seem to _love _with this guy. 

OR

They didn’t and I’m just seeing boogeymen. 

Either way, the rings are unnecessary. 

i’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on these things, because, genuinely, I do not know what these are supposed to be, but they line up with Oregon Boots too much to be comfortable with them.


End file.
